


Abysstaker's Path

by Likho



Category: Helltaker (Video Game)
Genre: Don't Have to Know Canon, Evil Corporations, Gen, Nothing Like Home Cooking, Office, Post-Canon, Post-Game(s), Video Game Development, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26588797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Likho/pseuds/Likho
Summary: Helltaker steps through the banishment portal, leaving demons and an angel by themselves in the mortal realm. What could possibly go wrong?
Kudos: 41
Collections: /fanfic/ Collected Works, The Gen Sub Hub





	1. Chapter 1

_The idea of it made the man's red blood boil._

_Demon girls! Lithe frame, flowing silver white hair, crimson eyes, sharp horns, and an expressive black tail just above her supple ass--- he'd travel through hell and back for a demonic harem._

_And so he, the Helltaker, did._

Though he found one angel, his home now hosted eleven new guests, as dangerous as their heritage suggests. In the mornings, he served breakfast to his girls.

"Ah! The 'Tired Demon' no longer," Pandemonica, Hell's customer service representative, drank from her cup of coffee. Her black horns grew and curled as two among the many curls in her fluffy white hair.

"Is it over-extracted again?" the Helltaker asked.

"Oh no... it's quite alright actually. You even filtered it properly this time," the Sadistic Demon keenly eyed the contents of the cup. "Keep it up and you might survive the day with no fingers broken."

"Yeah..."

"But do feel free to mess it up," she grinned. "The local hospital proved quite competent so far."

"Next one at 5:15 PM, double espresso, yes?"

"It's your job to remember, not mine."

Pandemonica returned to enjoying her coffee, but sweat rolled down the man's brow. He glanced to the side. At the center of the living room, his carpet had an encircled pentagram. Going to it, he shuffled his feet in a set of four steps, dancing around the points and corners of the star. Then two sets more, for lightning to strike and tear open the fabric of reality, then once more to step through the portal.

"Was that a one-way banishment portal?" Lucifer said. The act drew her attention away from her pancakes. "Did he really just step through?"

The glowing seam stitched itself closed and disappeared.

"Hey," Zdrada, the Bitch Demon, had been flicking at the tip of her cigarette to no avail, but now the snap of her finger conjured fire once more. "It lights now."

She sucked air through the cigarette and blew a puff at the Sour Demon.

Malina recoiled, "Cut that out!"

Zdrada leaned back and cackled out a cloud of smoke. "Or what? He's not coming back any time soon!"

"Can't blame him," Pandemonica savored what she had left of her coffee. "A human is just a human after all. He's bound to kick the bucket sooner than later."

"Doesn't mean she can't just smoke outside," Malina scowled.

"About that..." Cerberus, the triplets, said in unison.

"Open the door," a woman from outside commanded and knocked.

Through the windows, red and blue lights blinked in tandem from black and white cars. A group of humans equipped with long rifles and black armor swarmed the front yard.

"We messed up," they admitted.

"We know you're in there. Open this door, NOW!"

The girls looked awkwardly at the door. None of them were sure of what to do, except one.

"INTRUDERS AT OUR DOMAIN," Judgement, the High Prosecutor of Hell bellowed. "SHALL I DESTROY THEM?"

* * *

In the abyss, where death is no longer a concept, a giant monstrous fly towered above the Helltaker. Red chitin, six arms appended by claws, and white fiery fur--- it's fleshless face bared teeth and rested upon its girthy thorax.

"Since we find ourselves stuck here for the foreseeable future," it said, "I think a proper introduction should be made.

"I have many names. The Sovereign of Pestilence, The Warden of Decay, The Mistress of Flies. The--- wait, where are my manners. I should make myself more presentable."

In a blink of an eye, the colossal fly was gone and a petite lady stood in its place. Silver hair, red eyed like the rest, she wore a red suit and was as sharply dressed as the CEO of Hell. Her horns were white from age, yet the rest of her was timeless thanks to eternal demonic youth.

"Here, I think you will find this form more comfortable to converse with. Where was I? Ah yes.

"Also known as The Mistress of Flies and the Queen Crimson," Beelzebub proudly boasted. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Welcome to the Abyss.

"Hey, I noticed you brought something with you," she saw her new companion wore an apron and carried a stack of rolled pancakes, "If I knew you could do that, I'd ask for some sweets."

Without a word, Helltaker gave her the whole plate of chocolate pancakes.

"This is the best day of my life," the demon's eyes widened. "I should show you around my castle. You'd be amazed of what can be done with the very fabric of darkness."

"I don't plan on staying."

"Is that so? I haven't kept up with the latest in sorcery. Room for two, if you have a way out?"

* * *

Lightning struck. Dark clouds shrouded the skies, and the world was offensively red to eyes that had been in the cold abyss for generations. It must be Hell, or so one would think, but the torn concrete, line-painted roads, and metallic poles jutting from the ground indicated otherwise.

"This is the mortal realm, isn't it? I can't say I'm not impressed." Beelzebub remarked. "How'd you manage to get us here?"

"Experience," Helltaker said.

Abandoned vehicles and shattered windows littered the streets. The two were in the downtown area closest to home, just not the way things were before he left. One corporate building nearby harbored demonic presence.

The Helltaker kicked the door open. He went into the lobby and to the stairs, skipping the undead horned skeleton who had been in the place of a service desk representative. On the floor above was a row of computers; a row of humans on the chairs; standing behind, a row of arm-crossed undead overseers; and Malina.

"Oh, it's you," Malina said. "Thought I'd never see your mug again. Would you believe what happened after you left?"
    
    
      Yes. 
    >> No. <<
    

"I'm telling you anyway," Malina clutched her bottle of vodka.

The corporate building was a game development studio. Most of the staff had been turned into undead slaves except for the programmers.

"I asked Lucy if she could help me run a game company."

Lucifer looked as though she had given the idea a chance. The pancake-glutton had changed out of an apron into business attire. Her hair was let down, and on her head was her black crown of spikes, befitting the Queen of Hell. Her crimson eyes scanned the financial reports of the company as her fingers pinched the slender stem of her glass of wine. She broke her silence, giving her word of assessment with a smile.

"Log-in requirements, pre-order exclusive season passes, early access microtransactions, and day-one DLC..."

Malina expected Lucifer's smile to preface scornful disapproval.

"There's not much left to be done with this corporation, I'm afraid," Lucifer smirked, "I should be moving on to bigger projects."

"And well," Malina said of the present situation. "If I could get undead slaves to make a video game, I would've done so in Hell already."

"This isn't all that different from our old working conditions," the tired game programmer said. "Believe me."

"Anyway, who'd you bring with you?" Malina asked. "Does she play turn-based strategy games?"

"The name's Beelzebub," the Queen Crimson smiled. "Never heard of what you're talking about."

"Yeah, ok. We can show you later anyhow."

And so the Sour Demon tagged along with Helltaker and Beelzebub.


	2. Chapter 2

_[L] Life Advice: Helltaker consults Malina._

"You're asking me where the rest went off to?" Malina said. "Great. Well, you can start with Modeus. She should be on this floor."

The Helltaker scuttled through cubicles occupied by the undead. Going room to room, he found the demon girl by the photocopier, not far from where Malina was. Modeus' lascivious eyes were filled with awe and disbelief, for now.

"It's you!" Modeus leaned in for a good look, "Lucifer said you banished yourself and would never return."
    
    
      For you, I'm always coming back.
    >> Why are you at a video game studio? <<
    

"...

"Of course, I'm here. You left Malina with no one to play games. She was so excited when we came here that we---"

"OK!" Malina interjected, "Can we not talk about this?"

And so the Lustful Demon joined Helltaker without further complaints from Malina.

However, the tall building hosted several floors. Signs decorated the premises, pointing in all directions. Each arrow indicated the location of a department.

_[L] Life Advice_

"Pandemonica is here too," Modeus said. "Find her and let's make up for lost time already."

"No, don't look for her in customer service," Malina suggested, "She said she's done with that."

Certain that the demon wasn't where the programmers and artists worked, Helltaker started the search from the ground floor. To the left of the undead service desk representative was a small lobby to department offices. Miscellaneous documents filled the wall-mounted inboxes between doors.

Seated in rows were the undead, unconcerned with Helltaker's presence. Helltaker went up to one of the doors, kicking an adorable skeleton out of the way before going in.

"Welcome to Human Resources," the Sadistic Demon grinned, "I have your resumé on file and I'll be conducting your interview for today."

"About that espresso..."

"Ah, yes. It's a bit late for that, unfortunately. Our new intern is doing a better job, so I'll have to let you go."

 **BAD END.** _She shoved a knife into his heart. A bit of the hilt got stuck in the pulsing organ._

"...?

"Well, I know you can take a knife to your back, but I can't say I expected this to happen."

Helltaker's face scrunched in pain, too much for words. Pressurized blood hissed from his wound and a growing red splotch stained his apron. But he stood bracing his arms around the knife. Any mortal would've dropped dead already.

"You have more to offer than I thought," Pandemonica pulled her knife out and slid her tongue along the blade's edge. "It looks like we won't have to aim for your shoulders to play safe anymore."

And so the wound closed, somehow, and the Sadistic Demon joined Helltaker.

"The day you come back, you get stabbed," Malina scuffed the bangs of her hair upward. "You had me worried for a second."

"Well, he did come out of a place where death is no concept," Beelzebub added, "Maybe visiting the Abyss has its perks?"

Helltaker folded his damaged apron at his arm. His red workshirt met the blade at the buttons and didn't look as bad.

_[L] Life Advice_

"Don't worry about dressing sharp. You have only Azazel and Zdrada left in this building," Pandemonica said. "You're in luck. I was just about to lay them off too."

* * *
    
    
      Zdrada (@thebitchdemon), just now
    @tbsfan1999 Holy shit, kill yourself. I'd put you out of your misery if I could.
    

Zdrada sat on a desk and tapped her smartphone. The bright screen shone through dense puffs of smoke. She had lit a cigarette not far from the sign on the wall, 'Do Not Smoke'.

"And if I did, his skin would come clean off," she told the angel at the desk.

Azazel hadn't hastily scribbled onto her notepad. Instead, her eyes were set at the computer. The flustered angel's face reddened as sweat trickled down her chin.

"Oh heavens! The mortal realm is truly beyond redemption."

Azazel's idle hands convulsed and twitched before slamming the ESC key.

"Yo!" Zdrada greeted the Helltaker, just at their cubicle. "This place blows. Let's ditch the nerd farm and get the harem back together."

"Didn't expect you to be here."

"Great," Malina grumbled.

"Haha," Zdrada cackled. "You should've been here to see it.

"Malinka went nuts when we got to this place. Right then and there, she and Modeus---"

"Oh my!" Azazel's bright eyes widened. "Aren't you the Abyssal Exile?"

"Why, yes, I am Beelzebub," The Warden of Decay said, "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Most exciting!" the angel promptly started taking notes. Her eyes fixed on the demon as her pencil swiveled and danced across the page. "No one has ever returned from the Abyss. Perhaps you can divulge more about the very fabric of darkness."

And so the Curious Angel and the Bitch Demon joined the Helltaker. Thus far, Beelzebub's presence had a lukewarm reception, but it certainly can't be the case for the remaining demons, could it?


	3. Chapter 3

"IGNITE THE SIN MACHINE," Judgement summoned her chains from the sky, "PREPARE TO SUFFER!"

She stood atop the sin machine, mounted on charred ground or what used to be the Helltaker's front yard. Metallic skulls decorated the mechanical maw and conveyor belts. Judgement's white chains of light held captive an unfortunate police squad, who initially weren't sure of what they were dealing with at the door.

They had only responded to a report of albino triplets wearing dog ears. Though now, they figured the ears were real, and the residents weren't exactly human. Five individuals--- three of which were the triplets, one of which who always shouted, and the other wearing sunglasses over her eyes--- presided for the prosecution.

"Woohoo!" Justice cheered. "Way to go, Judgement! You brought the whole thing here!"

"ANY LAST WORDS BEFORE YOU FACE PUNISHMENT?"

"This is preposterous," the police chief protested, "We were justified under city ordinance to use lethal force."

"Ya mind reading that out for me?" Justice flipped her shades upwards, showing her pale, clouded eyes, "'Cause I'm blind."

"Section four-point-fifteen states---"

"SILENCE! NO LAW STANDS ABOVE JUDGEMENT."

"We're innocent!" the triplets hugged each other and rejoiced. "We're innocent! Yippee!"

Then Cerberus sniffed the air: smoke, berries, coffee, pencil shavings, and human blood. Certainly, Zdrada, Malina, Pandemonica, and Azazel were coming home. The lattermost they learned to recognize as Helltaker's blood. He was back! The triplets could hardly contain their glee, but they also found something else: intensely sweet and almost sickeningly so.

"Why are the police on the front yard?" Helltaker asked.

"TRESPASSERS MUST BE---" Judgement noticed, "...!"

The Helltaker returned with his entourage. But the unfamiliar face accompanying him was Beelzebub, the Mistress of Flies.

"WHY IS THE EXILE HERE!"

"She's joining us," Helltaker answered.

"YOU WISH TO SHARE ROOF AND BED WITH THE SOVEREIGN OF PESTILENCE? ARE YOU INSANE?"

"Wouldn't want it any other way."

"NO MATTER. YOU SET THE EXILE FREE. YOUR PENALTY IS DEATH. THE TIME HAS COME!"

As though a blade of pure light cut the air, white chains lashed at Helltaker. Biting cold to the touch. They pelted the premises in rows and columns, leaving no chance for escape now that the man was especially sinful. In no time, he was struck five times.

The mortal should've died, but still lived. Judgement jumped from the sin machine to confront the Helltaker.

"YOU. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
    
    
      >> Don't you know how I love your brand of torture. <<
    I'd cross the worlds any time to see you again.
    

**GLORIOUS SUCCESS.** Judgement huffed, annoyed he once again made her job difficult.

"I wasn't the one who prosecuted Beelzebub anyway. Let's hear what Justice has to say about this."

"Hmm," the Awesome Demon held her hand to her chin, "Beelzebub is banished from Hell. We're in the mortal realm now, so it's cool!"

And so Judgement and Justice were totally fine with having Beelzebub around. The police, now free to go, ran off without needing any explanation.

_[L] Life Advice_

"Lucifer didn't tell any of us where she went off to," Cerberus said. "It should be easy to find her regardless. Let's go!"

The route Cerberus led Helltaker on was improvised. She followed the scent of parchment, wine, and pancakes. The trail's end was a bank staffed by the undead. Helltaker went past the skeletal bank tellers and straight to the executive office.

The long hall made the walk seem like a ceremony. At the very end was the esteemed Queen of Hell, dressed for business and at her desk.

"You're back. I shouldn't be surprised at this point," Lucifer smiled. "But if you're here to stop me, then it's too late. Your property, your assets, your loans. You belong to me, and so does the world---

"And who is THAT?"

Lucifer didn't believe one silhouette in Helltaker's party at a glance. She glared past him and confirmed.

"Beel, we meet again."

The younger demons were indifferent to Beelzebub's presence. However, the accompanying High Prosecutor and the former High Prosecutor, Judgement and Justice, were clearly complicit.

"The Abyss isn't a bad place. I made a castle in it," Beelzebub said. "There is no debt or mortgage for it either. If he doesn't agree to the terms you impose, we can head back to my domain."

"Ladies, there's enough of me for all of you," the Helltaker said.

The words apparently were an affront to Lucifer.

"You come all this way to tell me a one-liner?

"Consider yourself lucky," she conceded with a smile. "There's no corporation in the world that makes pancakes as well as you."

And so the Queen of Hell and the Mortal Realm joined the Helltaker.

From then on, Helltaker continued his life in the company of demons. This time, a violent transfer of power had occurred during his absence. Now, the undead roamed the world and demons reigned. But after the city cleared itself of debris and insurance sorted out the damage, daily life proceeded with little change. Mostly. Paying off the mortgage for his home by cooking pancakes wasn't a bad deal.

Maybe life was just Hell under a different brand after all.

_THE END_


End file.
